Signal mechanism



Dec; 7, 194a. w, FANT, JR 2,455,513

SIGNAL IECHANISI I Filed July 7, 1945 2 Shasta-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. WILLIAM J. FANT' J2.

AITOZNEY Dec. 7, 1948 w. J. FANT, JR

SIGIAL IECHANISI I 2 Shoots-Shoot 2 Filed July 7, 1945 F'IG- 3 lime/Viv Patented Dec. 7, 1948 SIGNAL MECHANISM William J. Fant, Jr., South Bend, ma. assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, Ind., a corporation of Delaware South Bend,

Application July 7, 1945, Serial No. 603,666

3 Claims. (01. 123-198) This invention relates in general to signal mechanism and in particular to a signal mechanism adapted to warn the driver of an automotive vehicle that the engine throttle is being improperly operated.

Now many of the present day automotive carburetors are equipped with a so-called economizer Jet operable, when the vacuum of the intake maniiold is reduced to or below a certain factor, to in crease the combustible mixture within said maniiold.

In other words this economizer Jet is automatically operative, to inject a supplemental amount of fuel into the intake manifold when and ii the gaseous pressure within the said manitold is increased beyond a certain undesirable factor; and this condition is created when the accelerator is improperly operated for example when the accelerator is tramped upon in an edort effect a quiet; start of the vehicle.

New to avoid such an operation of the throttle, which of course results in an uneconomical operation of the engine in view of the waste of gasoline, there is suggested the incorporation, in the power plant of the automotive vehicle, of a manirold vacuum and spring operated motor operable, when the accelerator is improperly operated, to advise the driver of such improper operation.

The principal object of my invention is therelore to provide motor operated means operable, when and if the gaseous pressure within the intake manifold exceeds a certain factor, to advise the driver of the car of the existence of this condition.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a spring and pressure differential operated motor automaticaly operable, when the intake manifold vacuum is decreased to a certain'factor, to impose a load upon the accelerator pedal resisting a continued opening movement of said pedal.

Other objects and advantages of the invention are further sufliciently referred to in connection with the following detailed description of the accompanying drawing, which represents preferred embodiments of the invention. After considering these examples, skilled persons will understand that many variations may be made without departing from the principles disclosed; and I contemplate the employment of any structures, arrangements, or modes of operation that are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

compartment it. As

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view disclosing another embodiment of my invention; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view disclosing details of an automotive carburetor which includes an economizer jet.

Referring now to Figure l disclosing a preferred embodiment of my invention the essence thereof lies in a pressure diilerential and spring operated motor iii comprising a casing it, a power element it secured in place between the two parts of the casing and a spring it housed in a motor explained below the spring it is of a predetermined strength and is posed between one end of the motor casing and the power element id; and the compartment it is placed in fluid transmitting connection with the intake manifold til oi an automotive internal combustion engine Sill by means of a conduit it. The two part motor casing ill may be secured to the intake manifold by means oi a bracket it. A red it, secured to the power element it, entends through a relatively large opening in the motor casing and through an opening in the bracket, and this opening in the casing places a motor compartment lit in constant communication with the atmosphere.

One end of the rod it is provided with an eye portion 32 through which extends a laterally ex tending portion of a throttle valve operating lever Hi l. A throttle valve till, of Figure 3, operated by the lever ti l constitutes part of a downdraft carburetor ll of standard design including an economizer jet mechanism ti. The accelerator 3t of the vehicle, connected to the lever 54 by means of a rod 38 and biased to its released position by a spring I, completes the mechanism oi my invention disclosed in Figure i. It may be added here that the motor ill in Figure 1 is shown in its deenergized state the spring I then serving to move the eye 32 to the right so that the pin 33 of the lever 84 contacts the left end of said eye; and the accelerator and lever 34 are of course at this'timein their closed throttle positions.

Briefly describing the operation of the carburetor 31, when the throttle valve 35 is closed the gaseous pressure within the intake manifold II is relatively low; accordingly, a compartment ll within the carburetor is evacuated; for said com-,- partment is connected with the intake manifold by interconnected conduits 4| and 43. The evacuation of the compartment ll results in a piston 45 being subjected to a differential of pressures thereby moving a stem 41 upwardly said stem being connected to the piston. To the end of the stem 41 there is secured an end plate 4| which interis biased downwardly, by a spring ll, into contact with the upper end of a stem ll on the end of a valve member II.- The latter member is biased upwardly onto its seat by means of a spring l1.

Now when the driver of the car depresses the accelerator to move the throttle 3! toward its wide open position, there is effected an increase in gaseous pressure within the intake manifold and the compartment 39; and this operation automatnthe intake manifold when and if the gaseous pressure within the manifold is increased beyond V a certain critical factor, that is a factor permitting the spring iii to open the valve 8.

Describing now the operation 'of the mechanism of my invention when the engine is idling the throttle being closed, there is effected a relatively high degree of vacuum that is relatively low gaseous pressure within the intake manifold 20. It follows that under these conditions the compart- 48, is connected to the intake manifold 50 of an ment I8 of the motor I0 is immediately partially evacuated resulting in the power element It being subjected to a differential of pressures; for it is to be remembered that the compartment 30 of the motor is at the time vented to the atmosphere. The power element H is then moved to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.

To get the vehicle under way the driver will, after disengaging the clutch and establishing the transmission in the resired gear ratio setting, re-

engage the clutch as he depresses the accelerator to open the throttle. Now with a normal operation of the throttle the intake manifold vacuum remains relatively high however if the throttle is opened too quickly then said vacuum is appreciably lowered resulting in an operation of the aforementioned economizer jet mechanism 3! of the carburetor to' momentarily increase the fuel supply. This operation is however a costly'one in view of the waste of fuel accordingly the mechanism of my invention is employed .to advise the driver of his improper operation of the eccelerator; for when the manifold vacuum is appreciably lowered, as explained above, then the force from the power element It, normally acting to collapse the spring I6, is correspondingly reduced and this results in an expansion of said spring. This results in the rod 28 being subjected'to a load forcing the same to the right to oppose the physical effort of the driver in opening the throttle through the intermediary of the accelerator. It is to be particularly noted that the size of the power element i4 and the strength of the spring l8 are so selected that the warning mechanism-of my invention automatically comes into play when the manifold vacuum is slightly higher than the degree of vacuum necessary to effect an operation of the economizer jet. In other words to render my invention a practical one the signal mechanism comes into play before the damage is done.

It is apparent of course that when the driver senses the additional load on the accelerator pedal he will immediately reduce the throttle opening pressure on said pedal thereby obviating the undesired operation of the throttle. As an additional feature of my invention it is to be noted that the driver may. by compressing the spring it by his internal combustion engine 52 by a conduit ll. As with the power unit of the preferred embodiment of my invention disclosed in Figure l, the motor unit 44 includes a spring 58 housed within the compartment "said spring acting upon the power element 48. A pin 58, slidably extending through an insulated portion of the motor casing, is connected at one of its ends to the power element and contacts at its other end a movable contact member 80 wired, by a wire 82, to a grounded battery 64. A-wire 68, connected to a fixed contact member 88, is connected to a grounded signal light In preferably mounted in the instrument panel of the vehicle.

As to the warning operation of the signal mechanism disclosed in Figure 2 it is obviously the same as the heretofore described mechanism of Figure 1. Suffice it to say that when the manifold vacuum is unduly lowered as a result of an improper operation of the accelerator then the power element 48 is moved to the right to bring the movable contact member 80 into contact with the fixed contact member 68 thereby closing the electrical circuit to light the light 10; and the parts of the motor unit and switch are so constructed and arranged that this operation is effected just before the intake manifold vacuum is lowered sufficiently to initiate an operation of the fuel economizer jet.

There is thus'provided a' very' simple yet effective signal mechanism to facilitate an economical operation of the engine of an automotive vehicle of the day. It is to be noted however that the use of this mechanism is not necessarily limited to an automotive vehicle inasmuch as'it may be used to control the operation of any throttle control internal combustion engine which is a duplicate or substantial duplicate of the internal combustion engine of an automotive vehicle.

I claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine provided with an intake manifold and a carburetor mechanism comprising a throttle valve and an econornizer Jet, means for advising the operator of the engine when the gaseous pressure Within said manifold reaches a certain critical value said value being slightly below that value which results in an operation of the economizer jet, said means including a pressure differential and spring operated motor unit comprising a casing, a power element within the casing and a spring housed within the casing said spring serving to subject the power element to a certain load when the motor is deenergized; fluid transmitting means interconnecting the motor unit and manifold and means, rendered operative when the power element is loaded by the spring, for advising the operator of the engine of the existence of the aforementioned critical gaseous pressure.

2. In an automotive vehicle provided with an internal combustion engine including an intake manifold, an accelerator and a carburetor mechanism comprising a throttle valve and an economizer jet, means for advising the operator of the engine when the gaseous pressure within said manifold reaches the critical value which results in an operation of the economizer jet, said means including a pressure differential and spring operated motor unit comprising a casing, a power element within the casing and a spring housed within the casing, said spring, by virtue of its expanding operation, serving to subject the power,

element to a certain load when the motor is deenergized; fluid transmitting means interconnecting the motor unit and manifold and force transmitting means interconnecting the power element, throttle valve and accelerator, said force transmitting means being so constructed and arranged and so operative that when the power element is loaded by the spring, that is when the motor unit is de-energized, then'the operator of the engine is advised, by virtue of said spring loading and the consequent resistance to motion of the accelerator, of the existence of the aforementioned critical gaseous pressure.

3. In an automotive vehicle provided with an internal combustion engine I having an intake manifold, an accelerator and a carburetor including a throttle valve and an economizer jet, power means for controlling the operation of the accelerator to resist a certain throttle opening movement thereof which movement would result in an operation of the economizer jet, said power REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 891,627 MacKenzie June 23, 1908 1,926,180 Rutherford Sept. 12, 1933 1,980,355 Prescott et al Nov. 13, 1934 2,077,555 Frantz Apr. 20, 1937 2,131,264 Bendamin Sept. 27, 1938 2,358,363 'Iruesdell Sept. 19, 1944 

